Ladybird Tuesday: Nelson

05/05/2015

I mentioned a few weeks back that I’d found some other Ladybird titles that have recently been republish and Nelson from the Adventures in History series (series 561) is one such book.

This title was originally published by Ladybird in 1957, but some time in the late 1970s or early 1980s (I’m unsure of the exact year) the book was reprinted with a different cover, giving it a look that was consistent with the new Adventures in History books that were published around that time. All the inside pages and illustrations were identical to the original 1957 version.

I’m not exactly clear why Ladybird have chosen to reprint this book now in 2015, as I can’t see any significant anniversaries this years, but as I’ve said before I find modern day Ladybird’s republication of some of these old titles quite mysterious!

After from including a modern day price and a brief note on the back cover about it being a special edition of the original, the book is an exact replica of the 1957 edition, even featuring the dust jacket that Ladybird books of that period had. The book was written by L. Du Gare Peach – who wrote the Adventure sin History series from 1957 until his death in 1974 – and was illustrated by John Kenney – who in total illustrated 31 Ladybird books.

The Story Nelson covers all of Nelson’s life – from being born in Norfolk into a family where his Uncle was a Captain in the Royal Navy, to being appointed the youngest Admiral in the Navy at 38 through to his death on HMS Victory. I’ve learnt a bit about Nelson over the years, and even visited Victory whilst working with the MOD in Portsmouth, but as with so many things once you’ve had kids, I think I’d actually forgotten so much of what I knew. I definitely need to sit down and re-read this book and swot up on that particular bit of history again!

If you have a collection of old Ladybird books then please feel free to join in with Ladybird Tuesday. There are no formal rules to follow, just leave a link to any post you write in the comments below and if you’re feeling kind link back to my Ladybird Tuesday index page here on Being Mrs C. Thanks!